Sanctum

O espetador sofre literalmente durante o último quarto. Sanctum é uma variante cavernosa do drama da escalada, em que um grupo de aventureiros luta para salvar as suas vidas, enquanto lidam com relações pessoais no processo. Só que os personagens aqui mais nos chateiam do que nos preocupamos com eles, e também em vez de bonitos exteriores de montanha estamos fechados numa única caverna que é apenas às vezes um pouco estreita e às vezes um pouco larga, e também não há nenhum Zimmer ou Newton Howard cativante para tocar nela. Além disso, há algumas cenas clichés e a ausência de qualquer ideia. Um espetador animado com os arrepios dos percursos de inverno, como A Descida, ficará desapontado, e um espetador ansioso por um drama realista ao ar livre sem elementos sobrenaturais, ficará aborrecido. Aperceber-se-á do 3D talvez duas vezes quando alargar o espaço da grande caverna em proporção aos pequenos mergulhadores (parecem peixes num aquário :) Mas de outra forma é completamente inútil. (08/03/2011)

I love these survival stories based on a real event, where the character declares that everyone has to save light, and then the three cavers light each other in the face with their halogens in one square meter of space. Only the appearance of giant man-eating olms that would eliminate the entire staff early on would help. (09/08/2014)

James Cameron likes underwater filming, which suited him well during the filming of "Titanic," but especially in the movies "Titanic Secrets 3D" and "Mysterious Depths 3D." "Sanctum" is not a documentary film and it is not an epic romantic story either. "Sanctum" should be a thriller, but I think the label "adventure film" suits it better. Cameron was probably convinced to produce it only because it would be filmed in truly unique locations. This should be enough for the audience, as otherwise the movie is completely empty. If it weren't for some nice underground shots, "Sanctum" couldn't offer anything at all. The story is about a unique cave being discovered, in which a group of explorers gets trapped. It somewhat resembles the movie "The Descent," but without the creatures and, of course, without any atmosphere. Instead, "Sanctum" brings a whole series of unbelievable clichés, just like Cameron's recent personal project "Avatar." I have a feeling that Cameron started focusing on films that would knock viewers out with their form, completely resigning from the screenplay. I'm afraid he will confirm this with his next film, where he will be credited as the director. If it turns out to be "Avatar 2," I am probably rightfully afraid. Ioan Gruffudd delivers a very poor performance again, making "Sanctum" sink even deeper. A truly bad attempt that ultimately didn't even succeed in its form. In that case, I would rather recommend the movie "A Lonely Place to Die," which I myself didn't love, but it deals with a similar theme, handles it more suspensefully, and is able to make use of the environment and perfectly captivate with nature, which in this case are hills and rocks. The underground cave in "Sanctum" also offered an interesting environment, but it was painfully underutilized. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/08/jane-eyre-ekologicka-afrika-cislo.html (24/02/2013)

I have a weak spot for underground spaces, especially if they are beautiful. If I was brave and physically gifted enough, I would be a spelunker, but I’m neither so I watch films… Sanctum is a typical survival drama with everything that goes with it, but the performances like out of a cheap TV adaptation unfortunately bring it down. Also, the wanderings through the cave are not very clear, but it was fun enough. (24/02/2011)

I don't know what it was, maybe I was too groggy by the late night (or rather very early morning) hour I watched Sanctum, but I certainly didn't find the film as awful as it might have seemed. Sure, there are a lot of clichés (the flashlight in the boar's tooth...) and the main young actor deserves a slap in the head, but I really enjoyed it. Why, you ask? The film has a charismatic actor in the main adult role, who was really a tough guy (and reminded me a lot of Radek Brzobohatý), beautiful cave exteriors (or interiors?) and magical cinematography, Hirschfelder's music, omnipresent tension (the passage through the narrows, brrr) and last but not least the gradual deaths of the characters, which were often unexpected and in at least two cases really shocking for me. I’m rounding up the three and a half stars. (08/04/2013)